Self-Assembled InAs Lateral Quantum Dot Molecules Growth on (001) GaAs by Thin-Capping-and-Regrowth MBE Technique

Abstract

InAs lateral quantum dot molecules (QDMs) are grown on (001)-GaAs substrates. The self-assembled QDMs are formed in one continuous molecular beam epitaxial (MBE) growth via a thin-capping-and-regrowth technique. Lateral QDMs, each with 10-12 dots arranged in a specific pattern, are determined by the shapes of the underlying nanopropeller quantum dots (QDs). The nanopropeller QDs in turn are obtained by regrowth on nano-holes which have been previously created by capping the first InAs QD layer grown on (001)-GaAs substrate with a thin GaAs layer. The length of the propeller directly influences the number of QDs in a QDM. By varying the conditions for thin-capping, shorter or longer propellers can be achieved, allowing the number of QDs in each QDM to be controlled.